Slip Sliding Away Trivia Quiz

Answer: "That was never a writing partnership"

Simon and Garfunkel were a highly successful performing partnership, with hits like "The Sound of Silence", "Mrs Robinson" and "I Am a Rock". But theirs was not a songwriting partnership - that was all Paul Simon. When Simon told Anne Nightingale in an interview on "The Old Grey Whistle Test" that he wrote all their songs, she seemed to think she had a scoop, asking: "Is that generally known?". "I think almost everyone but you, Anne," came the reply.

Simon wrote "Slip Slidin' Away" for his 1977 "Greatest Hits, Etc." compilation album.

Answer: Girls Just Want to Have Fun

Robert Hazard wrote "Girls Just Want to Have Fun" and recorded it as a demo in 1979. He performed in the Philadelphia area with his band Robert Hazard and the Heroes. He later moved into country music and died in 2008.

Cyndi Lauper recorded the song and it was her first solo single, released in 1983. It struck a chord with its message of female empowerment, and became a worldwide hit in 1984. In her recording career, Lauper released songs like the controversial "She Bop" (1984) - which she co-wrote with Rick Chertoff, Gary Corbett and Stephen Broughton Lunt; and "I Drove All Night" (1989), written by Billy Steinberg and Tom Kelly. "Holiday", written by Curtis Hudson and Lisa Stevens, was a hit for Madonna in 1983.

Answer: Mud

Rob Davis was a guitarist with band Mud, releasing their first single, "Flower Power" in 1967. They didn't hit the UK charts until 1973, and achieved a string of hits including "Tiger Feet" (1974), "Lonely This Christmas" (1974) and "Oh Boy" (1975). Davis caused a stir by wearing flowing female clothing on "Top of the Pops". He left Mud in 1979, and the band has continued with an ever changing lineup into the second decade of the 21st century.

Davis became a songwriter, creating "Groovejet (If This Ain't Love)" for Spiller, along with Cristiano Spiller and Sophie Ellis-Bextor; co-writing "Toca's Miracle" with Dirk and Marco Duderstadt, Ramon Zenker and Victor Imbres for Fragma; and working on Kylie Minogue's 2001 mega-hit "Can't Get You Out of My Head" along with Cathy Dennis.

Answer: Bruce Springsteen

Bruce Springsteen originally intended "Because the Night" to be on his 1978 album "Darkness on the Edge of Town", but it wasn't working out right, so he discarded it. Coincidentally, Jimmy Iovine, the engineer/producer who was working with Springsteen, was also working with Patti Smith on her album "Easter". Iovine passed Smith a tape of the song, and she reshaped it and included it on "Easter". "Because the Night" was a big hit in the UK and US, unexpectedly bringing mainstream recognition for Smith. Springsteen later performed the song live with his own lyrics and accompanied Smith performing it in concert,

Answer: True

In 1967 Atlantic Records supremo Jerry Wexler told Carole King he wanted a "Natural Woman" song for Aretha Franklin's next album. King worked out a gospel-type melody and her lyricist partner Gerry Goffin supplied the words. Wexler got the songwriting credit for the title.

It became one of Franklin's signature songs, hitting the top ten of the US Billboard chart and coming into the charts again in 2018 when Franklin died. King recorded a different interpretation of the song in her 1971 album "Tapestry".

Answer: Stiff Little Fingers

Stiff Little Fingers emerged as a fresh and angry voice from Northern Ireland in 1979 with their album "Inflammable Materials". Lyrics such as these, from "Suspect Device", seemed to express the authentic feelings of disaffected youth in the midst of The Troubles: "They take away our freedom, In the name of liberty, Why can't they all just clear off, Why can't they let us be".

When it was seen that songs were not solely written by lead singer Jake Burns. but also by a journalist from the Conservative and Unionist newspaper the Daily Express, their credibility was knocked somewhat. John Peel, the influential champion of new music on BBC Radio 1, was undeterred and played their music. By 2014 they had recorded ten albums, with Jake Burns the only original member remaining.

Answer: Randy Newman

"Simon Smith and the Amazing Dancing Bear" is a hymn to optimism, despite all the bad things life hits us with, about a poor young man who entertains the wealthy with his bear: "Who needs money when you're funny?". Alan Price, who had been the keyboards player in The Animals, reached the top five in the UK in 1967 with his version. Nilsson included it in his fantastic album of Randy Newman cover versions, "Nilsson Sings Newman" (1970). Scooter performed the song with Fozzie as the dancing bear. Newman went on to be a successful performer.

His self-titled album was released in 1968, including instant classic: "I Think It's Going to Rain Today". He later won two Academy Awards for songwriting, for "If I Didn't Have You", in 2002, from "Monsters Inc.", and for "We Belong Together" in 2011 from the movie "Toy Story 3".

Answer: Biff Rose

Biff Rose was a comedian and songwriter who worked with George Carlin and appeared several times on Johnny Carson's "Tonight Show". He co-wrote "Fill Your Heart" with Paul Williams, although they fell out and Rose said publicly that Williams's contribution was not that great.

The song was recorded by Tiny Tim. Rose's version was very much appreciated by David Bowie, who covered the song for his "Hunky Dory" album in 1971. If you listen to the Rose version and the Bowie version, you may be surprised to see how much Bowie reproduced the original.

Answer: The Beach Boys

Barry Manilow had a worldwide hit with his 1975 single "I Write the Songs". A prolific songwriter himself, Manilow recorded this song that was written by Bruce Johnston, who originally joined the Beach Boys in 1965 as cover for Brian Wilson, and who remained with the group for over 50 years.

In fairness to Manilow, the song isn't saying that he, Barry, has written the songs, but, in the final line says that it is "music" who is the writer: "I am music and I write the songs". So it is a song in which the singer is pretending to be the personification of music.

Answer: Katy Perry

Katy Perry's song performed with Nicki Minaj, "Swish Swish", the third single from "Witness", was a worldwide hit. Its writers were the two performers plus Duke Dumont, Sarah Hudson, PJ Sledge, and Brittany Hazzard. It was credited with three producers, Dumont, Sledge and Noah Passovoy.

It had samples from "Star 69" by Fatboy Slim, which itself sampled "I Get Deep" by Roland Clark. Now that is some collaboration!